A few moments later, Hyde rushed into the room with my phone in his shaking hand. He took Hollyn from me, then tossed me my phone and told me he would meet me at his truck so I could put pants on before we rushed to the hospital. I propped my phone against my shoulder after calling my aunt. I struggled into a pair of Hyde’s sweats. I rolled them up so I didn’t trip over them and folded them over so they didn’t fall down. They were the closest thing I could find, and I didn’t want to give up even a second on something as trivial as pants while we rushed out of the house.
I thought I would wake up my aunt, so I was slightly surprised when she answered my call as if it was any normal situation. She even sounded cheerful when she called out a bright, “Hello.”
“Aunt Shaw?” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice. “I didn’t wake you up?”
“No. I’m on call tonight. I actually just got out of surgery. I have another procedure I’m heading over to observe shortly, so I don’t have much time to talk. But you rarely call me directly and never so late. Is everything okay?”
“Oh.” Of course, she was already working. I forgot that her hours were varied and how incredibly busy she was. There was more than one holiday the entire family had to celebrate without her because she was called away for an emergency. The entire Archer clan tended to take the fact we had a doctor in the family for granted but rarely put too much thought into all the sacrifices Shaw had to make to achieve all she had in her career. “Things are not okay. I mean, I’m okay.” I had to clarify before she worried or called my mom. “But something’s really wrong with Hollyn. She was crying like crazy, but now it sounds like she can’t breathe. She’s also burning up. Hyde is taking her to the emergency room right now. I just wanted to ask if you think there is anything we should do before we get her in to see a doctor.”
I felt the change in my aunt’s demeanor almost instantly. She went from being family to being a professional health care provider in an instant.
“She’s struggling to breathe?” Her tone was intense as she asked, “How high was her temperature?”
I smacked myself in the forehead with my free hand while shoving my feet into my shoes so I could run out the door. “We didn’t take it. She sounds bad. You can see how hard it is for her to breathe.”
“This is the time of year where we see a lot of RSV cases in infants. It can be pretty serious in normal babies, but for a baby who was born premature...” My aunt trailed off, and I could tell she didn’t want to speculate or give me any information that might make me panic. “Preemie babies’ lungs are often underdeveloped and very prone to illness. Hollyn is in a very high-risk category, which I’m sure Hyde is aware of. Get her here as quickly as possible, Remy.”
I nodded even though she couldn’t see me and paused to grab a hoodie for Hyde as I rushed out of the house. I was sure he had no room for thoughts of his own comfort and well-being, so it was up to me to keep an eye on him for the moment.
“We’re on our way now.”
“Remy,” I paused at the serious sound of my name. “I don’t know how serious Hollyn’s current condition is, but there is a chance she may stop breathing on your way to the hospital. She is a little girl in a lot of danger. Do you know anything about infant CPR? Hopefully, it doesn’t get to that point, but you need to be prepared.”
I got to the truck and stopped with my hand on the door handle, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly inadequate. Of course I didn’t know anything about infant CPR. I didn’t even know regular CPR. What good was I going to do Hollyn if I didn’t even bother to learn the basics?
Instead of climbing into the big vehicle and taking a seat next to Hyde, I got in the smaller back seat of the cab and sat next to where Hollyn’s seat was strapped in the middle. She was whimpering softly and crying. It was heartbreaking to see the tears, but now she couldn’t make any sound to go with them.
Hyde turned his head to look at me, and I could see every line of his handsome face was marked with fear.
I pointed to my phone and told him, “Aunt Shaw says to hurry.” He nodded and immediately pulled out of the driveway. There was a tension in the truck cab that was suffocating. I wanted to wrap both Hyde and his daughter in my arms and protect them from whatever might happen next, but all I could do was give the baby a finger to hold as my aunt hurriedly walked me through how to save her life if she stopped breathing.
It was a terrifying thought. I was well versed in trying to save someone from themselves, like with Daire, or when Bowe suffered from self-doubt, or even with my brother and his painful, unrequited love. But I had no idea how to save a life. It was weighty to finally understand what Zowen had gone through when he found me on the verge of death all those years ago. I thanked my aunt for her help and told her I would keep her updated. Since she was already at the hospital, I was sure I would see her at some point after Hollyn was admitted. She might be busy, but she would always find time for family, and I knew she was invested in the little girl who’d been dealt a rough hand from the start.
“I learned basic CPR when I was in the Army.” Hyde’s deep voice sounded like his throat was lined with sandpaper. “Hope to God I don’t have to use those rudimentary skills tonight.”
“I should take a class or something. I don’t want to be useless in an emergency like this.” I cooed at Hollyn and rubbed my fingers over her fuzzy hair. She looked miserable, and her face was a mix of splotchy red and alarming white. She still felt hot to the touch, and she seemed to get weaker and weaker as each minute dragged on. I bent my head close to her chest and listened as she gasped and fought for each breath she pulled into her lungs.
“It doesn’t seem fair that one little girl should have to go through so much. Why doesn’t she get to catch a break? How do you stop yourself from wrapping her up in bubble wrap and making sure she’s protected from everything?” I sighed and belatedly realized I should probably text Daire and have her send a message to Campbell to let him know what was going on. He didn’t seem to be at the house when I showed up with the cake, but the guy moved like a shadow and came and went as he pleased when he wasn’t working. He seemed to genuinely care about Hollyn, and I knew he would worry if he came home to an empty house. Hyde’s parents also needed to know what was going on, so I also sent a message to my dad and asked him to fill in Zeb and Sayer. I knew involving my family meant they were all going to show up at the ER sooner or later.
If there was one thing all the Archers excelled at, it was showing up for each other when times were tough. We were always a united front against whatever tried to take us down. I knew they would be there to hold me up while I did my best to keep Hyde on his feet as he did everything in his power to save his daughter. For the first time in our very complicated and tumultuous relationship, I realized I could be his hero the way he had been mine. Maybe he needed me; we were on equal footing for once.
All of a sudden, Hollyn made a horrible gasping sound that echoed through the truck. The weak grip she had on my finger relaxed, and her face went scary still.
I screamed Hyde’s name at the top of my lungs and felt the entire truck swerve. It wasn’t the safest, but neither one of us was thinking about ourselves at the moment.